International Events

Years of hard work and dedication to the sport all culminate on race day, where dreams are made or broken. See what types of events Team USA attends, and gain a better understanding of what it takes to get there as an athlete.

Top-Level Athletes

Global Competition

Types of International Events

Olympics

2020 - Tokyo

USA Cycling aims to take home seven medals, and make the United States the best cycling nation by winning an Olympic medal in every discipline, including taking the Tokyo 2020 medal count for women.
New this year, BMX Freestyle is a relatively unsanctioned, ungoverned sport, and the United States is at the forefront of the action.

Types of International Events

Olympics

2016 - Rio

Hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the United States won 5 medals (2 Gold & 3 Silver) with 3 agonizingly-close 4th place finishes, maintaining position as the second-highest medal producing country.
Mara Abbott captured the world's attention and demonstrated the talent and grit of USA Cycling’s pool of athletes with a nail-biting performance.

Types of International Events

World Championships

World Championships, held annually in every discipline and following each discipline's calendar, are highly sought-after UCI-promoted events. Categories include men’s, women’s, U23 men and women, and masters. The location changes every year to push riders in a variety of conditions and courses. Winning riders or teams, are given a rainbow jersey.

Types of International Events

World Cup

World Cup events are world-wide events as part of each discipline's season calendar, in varying locations, promoted and regulated by the UCI. Just as grueling as a World Championship event, but ongoing throughout the year, World Cups allow riders to accrue points, which change their position in UCI rankings.

Types of International Events

Continental Championships

Continental Championships, also known as Pan American Championships, are championships for members of the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI) – North and South American countries. Races are held annually in various locations.

dig deep

How Athletes Are Selected to Teams

USA Cycling is responsible for selecting the athletes who represent the United States in the highest level of international competition (e.g., Olympic Games, World Championships, or Pan-American Championships). USA Cycling is committed to implementing a fair and transparent process which will place athletes who provide the United States with the greatest likelihood of success on the start line. Athletes are selected according to clearly defined criteria and a clearly defined process. There are two ways an athlete can make a team – by automatically qualifying or being selected according to discretionary criteria.

Automatic Selection

USA Cycling establishes specific automatic selection criteria for each event in each discipline. By design, only proven contenders for medaling at the highest level of international competition will meet the automatic selection criteria. Examples of automatic selection criteria include medaling at the most recent World Championships or ranking in the top 5 of the UCI World Cup rankings. Automatic selection criteria are established by USA Cycling with input from its independent Selection Committee (explained further below) and a democratically elected representative of USA Cycling elite athletes known as the Athletes Advisory Council Representative (AAC Rep). For qualification for the Olympic Games, the automatic selection criteria must also be approved by the US Olympic Committee (USOC).

Discretionary Selection

It is common that the United States will qualify for more available positions at an event than there are athletes who meet the automatic selection criteria. In such cases, USA Cycling selects athletes on a discretionary basis using a clearly defined selection process defined in each selection criteria document. Recommendations for who shall be selected are made by USA Cycling coaching staff, but final selection decisions are the responsibility of an independent, volunteer Selection Committee. Decisions are made using criteria and decision-making guidelines defined in the Discretionary Selection section of each document. Each selection criteria document is created by USA Cycling with input from the Selection Committee, AAC Rep, and the USOC.

Selection Committee

The USA Cycling Selection Committee is the group of distinguished volunteers who make the difficult decisions when discretionary selections are needed in order to put the best athletes on the team. The Selection Committee members serve eight year terms over two Olympic quadrennials. During their terms they help create and approve all event selection procedures, monitor competitions, review data, and make selections for teams when needed.

The committee members have all competed at the highest levels across all of USA Cycling’s five disciplines and have distinguished resumes on and off the bike. Each committee member applied to serve on the committee and were chosen for their ability to be knowledgeable, objective, thorough, detail oriented, and unbiased.

Athlete Selection

Staff Selection

World Championships

September 20-27, 2020: Aigle-Martigny, Switzerland

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the 2020 racing season is currently suspended. When racing resumes and events are scheduled the 2020 USA Cycling Road World Championships Selection Criteria will be adjusted accordingly and be posted here.

Continental Championships

April 28-May 3, 2020: San Juan, Argentina

USA Cycling is not sending or funding a team to this event in 2020. If you have interest in the event please contact Jeff Pierce.

Continental Championships

How Athletes Are Selected to Teams

USA Cycling is responsible for selecting the athletes who represent the United States in the highest level of international competition (e.g., Olympic Games, World Championships, or Pan-American Championships). USA Cycling is committed to implementing a fair and transparent process which will place athletes who provide the United States with the greatest likelihood of success on the start line. Athletes are selected according to clearly defined criteria and a clearly defined process. There are two ways an athlete can make a team – by automatically qualifying or being selected according to discretionary criteria.

Automatic Selection

USA Cycling establishes specific automatic selection criteria for each event in each discipline. By design, only proven contenders for medaling at the highest level of international competition will meet the automatic selection criteria. Examples of automatic selection criteria include medaling at the most recent World Championships or ranking in the top 5 of the UCI World Cup rankings. Automatic selection criteria are established by USA Cycling with input from its independent Selection Committee (explained further below) and a democratically elected representative of USA Cycling elite athletes known as the Athletes Advisory Council Representative (AAC Rep). For qualification for the Olympic Games, the automatic selection criteria must also be approved by the US Olympic Committee (USOC).

Discretionary Selection

It is common that the United States will qualify for more available positions at an event than there are athletes who meet the automatic selection criteria. In such cases, USA Cycling selects athletes on a discretionary basis using a clearly defined selection process defined in each selection criteria document. Recommendations for who shall be selected are made by USA Cycling coaching staff, but final selection decisions are the responsibility of an independent, volunteer Selection Committee. Decisions are made using criteria and decision-making guidelines defined in the Discretionary Selection section of each document. Each selection criteria document is created by USA Cycling with input from the Selection Committee, AAC Rep, and the USOC.

Selection Committee

The USA Cycling Selection Committee is the group of distinguished volunteers who make the difficult decisions when discretionary selections are needed in order to put the best athletes on the team. The Selection Committee members serve eight year terms over two Olympic quadrennials. During their terms they help create and approve all event selection procedures, monitor competitions, review data, and make selections for teams when needed.

The committee members have all competed at the highest levels across all of USA Cycling’s five disciplines and have distinguished resumes on and off the bike. Each committee member applied to serve on the committee and were chosen for their ability to be knowledgeable, objective, thorough, detail oriented, and unbiased.

Athlete Selection

Staff Selection

World Championships

September 20-27, 2020: Aigle-Martigny, Switzerland

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the 2020 racing season is currently suspended. When racing resumes and events are scheduled the 2020 USA Cycling Road World Championships Selection Criteria will be adjusted accordingly and be posted here.

Continental Championships

April 28-May 3, 2020: San Juan, Argentina

USA Cycling is not sending or funding a team to this event in 2020. If you have interest in the event please contact Jeff Pierce.

MTB:

Cyclocross:

Continental Championships

Recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including BMX, cyclocross, mountain bike, road and track.